Autumn springs to life on the Riverside

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature Notes and Records for Wildlife - click on :

HILLS FARM WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

Our November Meet was held on Sunday 25th November 2018. Since the October meet the riverside has been through some rapid changes, with the first sudden frost on 22nd. Temperatures below freezing during the morning caused shallow water to freeze but ground remained soft under thick layers of leaves and dry stalks. It remained cold and triggered frantic activity in thickets, trees and undergrowth. Migrant birds had arrived in large groups to start on the fruits and berries of Blackthorn, Hawthorn, Spindle, Dogrose and Ivy.

Autumn leaf-fall had been very slow until the last days of the month, with a marked difference in tree species. 

This was the scene on 10th November but just one windy day  

caused the brilliant yellow but fragile leaves to fall, leaving the

tough Oak leaves clinging on (in foreground).

With the leaves came the rubbish and the amount collected on our meet was quite a record. 

The haul on 25th included a bicycle which had remained submerged in the river as rainfall increased the depth but the fast-flowing water revealed a wheel, the rest of the bike being embedded in a thick layer of leaves.  Three intrepid group members hauled it out from the bridge. 

The End of British Summertime

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature Notes and Records for Wildlife - click on :

HILLS FARM WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

Autumn has today (9th November 2018) entered its traditional blustery phase but it remains mild. The days so far have been spectacular with outstanding autumn colours along the Riverside brightening the landscape on the few cloudy days, and remaining brilliant in the lowering sunshine. Our October Meet was on 28th October - British Summertime had ended but most leaves remained on the trees, only the Ash trees were nearly bare, as the weather had been quite calm. The day was overcast with rain. This should have had everyone cheering - as much rain is needed to replenish supplies over the whole of the river catchment area after the hot, dry summer.

A look at the carpet of fallen leaves gives a good indication of the diversity of plants growing in the area. The large leaf here is from a young Hazel tree (9.11.18).

A Fresh Start to Autumn

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature Notes and Records for Wildlife - click on

Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation

It was a cool start to the day of our our Meet on 30th September 2018 - Autumn weather at last. However it soon turned hot in the sun;  it was back to summer for a while. Fortunately the riverside plants and grasses had made a quick recovery from the long hot summer after rainfall the previous weekend. Nuthatches were calling loudly with robins singing and many other small birds actively foraging amongst the thickets surrounded by Rose hips, Spindle, Guelder Rose and Hawthorn berries. See the record for 25th September 2018 (click the above link).  

Guelder Rose berries and a blue sky

There was plenty to do on our meet as the previous meet had been more than five weeks ago but a very good turnout of people made short work of it, with a passer-by lending a helping hand.

Humid and Overcast - August on the river

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVER

To find Nature Notes and records of Wildlife here, click on

HILLS FARM WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

19th August - our Meet was earlier than usual due to the Late Summer Bank Holiday the following weekend but summer holidays depleted our numbers nevertheless. Fortunately the task was not overwhelming today. It was good to see that both planted and self- sown fruiting plants had survived the unusual heat and lack of rain.

Surrounded by the cool damp shade of wild riverbank plants,

these apples did well.

Windfall fruits were quickly snapped up or pecked into by small mammals and many species of birds. It was a challenge to find a fruit which had been sampled by a bird or a mammal by the teeth marks or beak marks in the fruit. The largest mammal sampling the fruits was easy - humans!  but were the tiny scrapes on the skin made by a field mouse or bank vole - or maybe a small bird? Some were easy as birds had chosen a certain sheltered tree where they remained all day, for many days, foraging on its fruits. These were blackbirds and song thrushes with blue tits joining in. Most were reluctant to fly away when spotted.

Welcome Rain

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature Notes and records for wildlife - click on

Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation

Our scheduled Meet was on 29th July 2018 and the weather forecast was right - rain all day - rain at long last. Would this mean an end to worrying about fruit trees and riverside berries and nuts surviving into the autumn and winter to provide food for wildlife? After a few more odd days of rain - this now seems likely, grass has quickly turned green again, new shoots are rapidly appearing on riverbank vegetation and berries are ripening.

Raindrops on Guelder Rose berries just ripening.  30th July 2018

Our Meet on 29th July was partially postponed, with an increasingly large haul of items left in the river and retrieved the following Sunday, 5th August,  including a bicycle, supermarket trolley and three traffic cones. The weather was dry and hot again by then with blackcaps  and a garden warbler singing.  Meanwhile on 29th two intrepid group members braved the rain and collected two bags of rubbish along the paths.

Skippers on Guard

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature Notes and records for wildlife here, click on

Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation

Our Meet this month was on 24th June 2018 - another very warm and dry day. A Mallard family with  about eight ducklings was spotted on the river, heading downstream in the dappled shade and there were many butterflies in the long grass and on the river banks. The majority were Meadow Brown butterflies but there were several Large Skippers on the warm dry embankments and Ringlets ranging along the damper margins. Bright Comma butterflies were seen flying as well.

Here is a Large Skipper (Ochlodes venata) on bank side vegetation.

Always very alert, they will often chase other butterflies away from their patch.

In addition to our usual meet, some members of the group went out on a sortie on the evening of 7th June when they found a sewing machine amongst the usual litter.

The mist clears and damselflies emerge from the river

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature Notes and records for wildlife here, click on:

Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation

Our meet was early this month, on 20th May 2018, a fine day after early mist, later becoming partially cloudy. Good numbers of Banded Demoiselle damselflies , males and females were seen, together with some Beautiful Demoiselle damselflies and a few Large Red damselflies along the river. Speckled Wood and Orange-tip butterflies were ranging along the banks as well. A buzzard was gliding round on the thermals above the river and below,  blackbirds, a song thrush,  and common whitethroats were singing strongly. 

A male Banded Demoiselle damselfly perching on a riverbank grass.

Note the black 'band' on the wings. When open the wings appear to have a black 'thumbprint' on the metallic blue wings.

Oak before Ash this April

Our April meet was on 29th, a typically cool day, very damp and overcast as most of the previous week, but trees had suddenly come into leaf. It was clear that this year would be an 'Oak before Ash' year but it remains to be seen if the rhyme will be true and that summer rainfall will be light. There was to be 10mm of rain overnight however.   

At last the river was low enough for some members of the group to pull the deflated inflatable boat out to the collecting point. It had been washed downstream from an unknown location and had been embedded in the river for a long while, mostly invisible. There's more to be done next time, the river level allowing.

It was good to see that all the fruit trees were in blossom now:

Each tree is a different variety and blossoms at a slightly different time.

The Reluctant Spring allows the blossom in

   The 25th March 2018 meet - a month since our last meet in February - and what had changed on the riverside?

At first glance very little - a return of the 'Beast from the East' brought more snow than its previous visit in February although it did not last long but the cold conditions prevailed. The days grew longer and what light there was made a difference to wildlife activity. Fortunately the first blossom buds appeared on the Blackthorn and after a few days the river banks were brightened by white blossom, attracting early Bumblebees and birds.

Towards the end of March the first blossom appears on a young tree. Old and young Blackthorn trees were soon showing blossom which will last at least a month when Hawthorn blossom will take over.

Winter bites and delays the spring

Signs of Spring were put on hold when a freezing cold wind blew in from the east during the week before our meet on 25th February 2018.   Overnight frost had made the ground hard and the bitter ENE wind quickly dried out any remaining damp. As the conditions were less muddy and slippery, it was possible to haul out two 'For Sale' signs from the Arun where the banks are steep. Some of us could remember winters here when snowdrifts piled up against our doors and the river actually froze over in parts and desolately bare banks offered no shelter for wildlife. This time the river was flowing well and the sun shone. Birds were singing - it was very good to hear greenfinches joining the song thrushes and robins.  Snow fell the following day but most of it was blown away and over the coming days the area escaped the heavy snowfalls experienced elsewhere.

OAK buds forming on an old oak on the river bank

on 16th February 2018 give the outer branches of the whole tree a reddish tinge.

and on the same day, the first snowdrops appear on the river bank,

the flowers not yet open. Last years dry grasses and leaves form

shelter for wildlife all along the banks, and plenty of acorns lie hidden here.

A Mild and Muddy End to January 2018

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature Notes and records for wildlife here, click on

Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation

Our Meet on 28th January 2018 was again very productive after the Christmas break. The weather was very mild but overcast and damp with river banks very muddy after several days of rain when the water level had risen considerably - but was now receding. The river was still flowing fast and muddy.

At the end of our meet it was good to look up from the pile of bags of rubbish we had collected and see one of the first and certain signs of spring:

Long Hazel catkins forming lambs' tails, with tiny red flowers at the base where, in early autumn,  young green hazelnuts will form. Most will be devoured by wildlife without fully ripening as they usually form well before acorns and other nuts - and taste sweeter too.

The shopping trolley was not the easiest item to be hauled up from a deep, muddy and fast-running river. 

Familiar December Frosts

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

To find Nature notes and records for wildlife, click on

HILLS FARM WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

Our last meet for 2017 was on Sunday 17th December. The morning was frosty, remaining cold but with rain later in the day. So far this winter, frosts have been far more numerous and terrain conditions remain good. Rainfall has increased, gradually replenishing water supplies to reservoirs and rivers but without snowfall which would chill the river water.

The relatively warm temperature of the river water here attracts wildlife, especially birds, which may struggle in other locations to find unfrozen, running water and aquatic life.

The unfrozen river banks remain muddy, attracting thrushes, robins and wrens - and Little Egrets which arrived here earlier in the month when temperatures started to fall on the coast, their usual habitat.  Great spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, robins, dunnocks, blue and great tits and house sparrows were some of the birds seen and heard on the morning of our meet.

Many riverbank fruits and berries have now been plucked by hungry winter migrants making their way along the river course but some will be left until the weather becomes severe, typically Dog rose hips and Guelder rose berries. Ivy berries are often missed by humans but  
birds can spot them as they ripen from green to dark charcoal-grey.

These rose hips looked at their best in early October but still remain

to be eaten, highly visible on the bare branches over the river banks.